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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24845434">Snapshot</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/wackyjacqs/pseuds/wackyjacqs'>wackyjacqs</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Bizarre Holidays [233]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Stargate SG-1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Established Relationship, F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 06:26:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,451</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24845434</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/wackyjacqs/pseuds/wackyjacqs</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack smiled as he listened to the celebrations. It was a day he hoped would happen and one he desperately wanted to see, but now that it was here, he was more emotional than he ever anticipated.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Samantha "Sam" Carter/Jack O'Neill</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Bizarre Holidays [233]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1234973</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>105</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Snapshot</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Written for ‘Photography Day’ (19 August). Post-series; set around eight years after 'Threads' (and diverting from canon).</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jack shielded his eyes against the sun as he hooked two fingers under the collar of his shirt and pulled the material away from his skin in the hope of a little reprieve from the heat.</p>
<p>From his spot in the shade, under the large ash tree, he could hear the music drift outside from the large hall. Every so often, it was punctuated with laughter and the sound of glasses as they were clinked together.</p>
<p>He smiled as he listened to the celebrations. It was a day he hoped would happen and one he desperately wanted to see, but now that it was here, he was more emotional than he ever anticipated.</p>
<p>Movement to his left caught his attention and his gaze fell on the very person he’d been thinking about. As he leaned back against the tree trunk, he watched fondly as Cassie ran a hand over an imaginary crease on her wedding dress before she stepped into her husband’s arms for another photograph. Just before the picture was taken, however, Cass looked up and met Jack’s eye. He was treated to one of her dazzling smiles and he felt his own smile widen in response.</p>
<p>As he observed the newlyweds he was struck by how Cassie had grown over the years. From the young orphan girl the team had rescued in the first year of the Stargate Program, to the teenager  who'd lost another mother in tragic circumstances; she had faced it all with strength and dignity. She’d worked hard to overcome everything, complete her studies and land her dream job. She even had time to fall in love.</p>
<p>Jack was proud to call Cassandra his daughter. He’d been a father-figure to her almost from the moment they met, and that relationship had only developed over time, especially following Janet's death when he – and Sam – had become Cassie's legal guardians. Jack swallowed hard at the lump in his throat as he remembered the Doc. She would have been euphoric for her little girl today, and he only wished that she could be here.</p>
<p>Before he could replay that fateful mission over in his mind, a loud squeal pulled him from his thoughts. He looked around, quickly located the source of the noise and found himself relaxing again as he watched the scene before him unfold. Cassie and her husband Graham – who just so happened to be a captain at the SGC – had finally been given a reprieve from the photos, but they didn't have time to move far as they were ambushed by someone else.</p>
<p>Chuckling lightly, Jack watched as his own daughter ran towards the couple and launched herself at them. Moments later, Cass had scooped Grace into her arms and twirled them both in a circle. While they giggled in delight, Jack’s attention drifted slightly to the right as his wife approached at a more sedate pace. Carefully holding their son, Isaac, in one arm, Sam reached out and hugged Graham with the other. As they all interacted, they were blissfully unaware of the photographer as he captured the moment and once more Jack smiled. Cass would have some great photos to show her own kids someday.</p>
<p>
  <em>Kids.</em>
</p>
<p>Jack huffed out a breath as he suddenly started to feel his age. All 60 years of it.</p>
<p>He was thrilled that Cassie finally had her chance at a happy ending, but she would always be a kid to him, no matter what age. And here he was with two of his own kids as well, both of whom were growing up far too quickly for his liking. He was never one for clichés, but it really did feel like time was passing him by. Before he knew it, Grace and Isaac would also be adults and living their own lives.</p>
<p>"She looks beautiful."</p>
<p>The softly spoken statement from Sam brought him out of his reverie and he was surprised to find her standing by his side. He frowned slightly, but then saw Cassie, Graham, Grace and Isaac posing for more photographs. He gazed into the distance.</p>
<p>"Yes, she does," he finally answered.</p>
<p>"And happy," Sam added as she stepped closer, wrapping her arm around his waist.</p>
<p>He instinctively lifted his arm and rested it across her shoulders, pulling her closer. "She is."</p>
<p>"I'm so proud of her."</p>
<p>"Me too," Jack whispered, his voice thick with emotion.</p>
<p>He turned his head to look at Sam. Her eyes brimmed with tears and he pressed his lips against her temple.</p>
<p>"I still can't believe this day is finally here," Sam admitted after a beat. "Our little girl's all grown up. Before we know it, it'll be Grace's turn.”</p>
<p>"Oh, hell no," Jack guffawed. "She isn't allowed to date until she's thirty – and even then she's getting a chaperone."</p>
<p>He knew he sounded far too defensive, but when Sam turned towards him and buried her face against his chest as she started to laugh, he couldn’t keep up the protective father stance for long before he grinned.</p>
<p>"Laugh all you want now, Carter,” he said, “but you'll be the same when the time comes."</p>
<p>He felt her shrug against him and murmur something that sounded suspiciously like “probably”, before they fell silent and watched Cassie and Graham as they kept their children entertained.</p>
<p>After a couple of minutes, Sam sighed and Jack lightly jostled her shoulder. "What's up?"</p>
<p>"Nothing."</p>
<p>"It's never 'nothing' with you, Sam. Spill."</p>
<p>She started to answer, only to hesitate.</p>
<p><em>"Samantha..."</em> he drawled.</p>
<p>"I was just thinking."</p>
<p>"About? " he prompted when she didn't say anything else.</p>
<p>"Us."</p>
<p>"Oh."</p>
<p>"I was thinking about the last wedding we attended,” she clarified. “It was ours."</p>
<p>Jack nodded slowly in agreement.</p>
<p>"It's funny,” she continued. “I mean – oh, I don’t know,” she trailed off with a half-hearted shrug.</p>
<p>"Real insightful, Carter."</p>
<p>She rolled her eyes at his teasing and he grinned as he placed another kiss into her hair.</p>
<p>“Sometimes,” Sam said quietly, “those eight years that I – <em>we</em> – waited, it felt like the longest time, but… well, we’ve been married for eight years now. We’ve two kids. A dog,” she added, pointedly ignoring his smug smile, “yet time seems to have vanished. I feel like I’ve blinked and missed it all.”</p>
<p>Jack looked at his wife and waited until she met his eye and he saw a mix of concern and doubt and something else before it vanished.</p>
<p>"Maybe I'm just being ridiculous."</p>
<p>"You're right," he finally agreed. "You are being ridiculous."</p>
<p>As Sam turned to face him, Jack pushed himself off the tree and into parade stance. Then, in one smooth movement, turned Sam around so her back was flush against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned in. His lips hovered by her ear.</p>
<p>"How can you have missed something,” he murmured, “when we gained everything?”</p>
<p>For a man of few words, he could tell he surprised Sam and he watched her as she watched their family in the distance. Slowly, her lips twisted into a smile and he dropped a kiss onto the sensitive spot behind her ear.</p>
<p>They had all been through so much and lost a lot, but, in a way, they had also gained significantly more.</p>
<p>He and Sam were now able to be together, for one. They were happy – and relatively healthy. They had received a chance at having a family. They had been given their happy ever after.</p>
<p>And as they watched Cassie and Graham standing together, Cassie held Grace in her arms as they shared a secret, while Graham held Isaac. On either side of the couple, now stood Daniel and Teal’c, all smiling warmly for a photograph.</p>
<p>It was their little unconventional family and as the photographer gestured for the group to move in closer, they all as one turned to Sam and Jack and waved them over. Jack quickly snapped off a sloppy salute in response.</p>
<p>“I love you, Jack,” Sam whispered, turning in his arms and placing a soft kiss on his lips.</p>
<p>“Right back at you, Sam. <em>Always.</em>"</p>
<p>And then he was treated to one of those smiles; the ones she reserved just for him. The one that – no matter how many times he was on the receiving end – always surprised him and knocked him off balance. Whether it was the way it made Sam's face brighten, or how it made her eyes the most vibrant shade of blue possible, it always caused Jack's heart to slam into his chest and beat wildly.</p>
<p>It was always unexpected, his reaction, but as he glanced down to his and Sam's entwined hands, he grinned. After all this time, he really wouldn't have it any other way.</p>
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